


Hate

by canthelpmyselves



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 06:17:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15924605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canthelpmyselves/pseuds/canthelpmyselves
Summary: A look at the man beneath the masks.





	Hate

Despite his sunny nature and outgoing personality, Barry Allen was actually a very private person. Sure, there people who thought they knew him; people who would swear they knew everything there was to know about the speedster, but they were wrong. 

Like Iris. She thought she had a perfect insight into who Barry Allen was. Geeky, sweet, optimistic and more than a little in love with her. She would be happy to tell anyone that she knew how big Barry’s heart was. She would eagerly rhapsodize about the good in him. 

Or Joe. He could talk about seeing Barry’s struggles. Dealing with his pain. Enduring his heartbreaks. Growing into the kind-hearted, generous man he is today. He would call Barry an inspiration and a beloved son.

Maybe Caitlin, who could give lectures on Barry’s powers and fortitude. She could discuss the biology and chemistry that made up the fastest man alive. She could catalog his speed, his healing, his superpowers.

What about Oliver? He could discuss the hope that Barry gave others. The belief in right over wrong the younger man inspired. He could tell you about the way Barry made everyone feel lighter, like there was something better, something purer, just waiting for them to find it.

There was Leonard. He would tell you how annoying and frustrating it was to be on the receiving end of the young man’s faith. To feel that spark come to life and steadily grow into a true desire to be the man Barry insisted he could be. He could tell you about the warmth that crushed his icy cold walls when Barry looked at him with utter conviction and said ‘there’s good in you’. 

But if you asked Barry…

If Barry were to be honest…

He would tell you that what drives him is hate.

Hate for a system that called a small boy a liar and stole his father away. That is what drove him to become a CSI. To prove the system was faulty. To show it’s errors. To proudly provide the evidence of corruption, blindness and ego that fueled the system.

Hate for the people who spread anarchy and chaos, _without his permission_ , is what forced him to pull on that cowl and fight back. To defeat those who dared play in his toy box without his approval.

Hate for the way Joe tried to replace his father is what made Barry pretend to love her. Guilt was a marvelous tool, and he used it subtly. Small frowns. Longing sighs. Every time he saw the flash of pained sympathy in Joe’s eyes, he felt a little better. Especially when it made Joe reject the man Iris loved, driving a wedge between father and daughter.

Hate for the way Wells and his employees saw the Flash, not Barry Allen, is why he made their jobs harder. He wasn’t reckless or impulsive by nature. Barry could analyze a problem in a fraction of a second. He was smart enough to scope out the dangers and plot his best course of action in the time it took others to blink. He took great delight in putting himself in just enough danger to make them all frustrated. Being a constant reminder to them of how dangerous they had made the world gave him a delicious thrill.

Hate is what made him perpetually late. Come on! He was faster than sound! But seeing the frustration on people’s faces when he zipped in five minutes late lifted his spirits. Petty? Probably. He enjoyed it, regardless.

Hate is why he toyed with Snart. Everyone had the capacity for both good and evil. Seeing Snart begin to struggle with the hope Barry gave him was wonderful. He made the self-assured, overly-confident thief doubt himself. Doubt his long-held beliefs. Doubt his entire life. 

Barry didn’t care if he really changed. It didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Hero or villain, Snart was just another toy to him. When he tired of playing with Snart, he’d simply choose another toy to play with.

There were many people who thought they understood who Barry Allen was. Hero. Friend. Lover. Son. Brother. Savior.

Barry knew who he really was. He was Hate.


End file.
